


sunrise

by nekrateholic



Category: Boyfriend (Band), The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project (TV), U-KISS, UNB (Band)
Genre: But just a little, Feelings, M/M, Unrequited Love, it's just the two of them really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 10:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14975477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekrateholic/pseuds/nekrateholic
Summary: Turns out, spending a while squished in a dorm with your first love isn't all that hard. There might be something to this whole adulthood thing, after all.





	sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> frankly i don't remember if AJ or Jun was first at the evaluations but eh. what i do remember though is AJ not uttering a word about u-kiss and that fucking hurt man
> 
> HEY ANON I'M FINALLY READY  
> i'm so so so sorry your request was the one that got stuck in my drought but. i tried ;;; this was supposed to be a lot more emo and that's part of why it took me so long to make it happen but. i don't wanna write emo. idk  
> i hope you like it anyway :3  
> it is now August... but i finally edited the inaccuracy... thank you AzcaSky ;;; <3 

So Donghyun made it.

Weirdly, Junyoung learns that later - audition day is a blur of nerves and even more nerves when he sees Jaeseop there. He says hi, tries to make small talk - they were in a group together for a bit, after all. Sort of. They never really  _were_ in the group together but Junyoung isn't about to let this deter him. What he has to let deter him, though, is the cold, stilted awkwardness Jaeseop responds with.  _(Siyoon,_ Junyoung reminds himself again but the name feels somewhat foreign on his tongue.)

(When _Siyoon_ comes out the result is clear as day on his face. Junyoung desperately wants to try and comfort him but when it comes to it, he doesn’t know what to say. So instead he slinks back to his spot in the waiting room and vows to make his performance the best one he's capable of, for both of them.)

But back to the question - Donghyun made it and so did a whole bunch of feelings Junyoung thought he’d outgrown. Adulthood is so overrated.

He never said hi in the waiting room - Donghyun was flanked by most of his members and while Junyoung sort of knows them too, the same feeling that made him hide from Jaeseop rises in his throat again. So he does what he does best - charms the pants off every contestant that so much as breathes in his direction.

(When they tell him what he missed with his clashing schedule Junyoung spends a night or three awake in his bed, in the little rest time he gets, to wonder whether he would’ve ended up in Donghyun’s team if he was there to have a say on the matter.)

*

It all boils down to this: Donghyun has always been _that_ person.

Unlike the rest of U-Kiss, Donghyun was never exactly family - yet just as nice and sweet (and oh man, _beautiful_ ) as them and with Junyoung being as easily attached as he was, it was only a matter of time. The fact that Donghyun was an artist Junyoung looked up to hadn’t helped at all.

The thing is, Junyoung is a lot more rational than people give him credit for. Even then, he knew that his crush was doomed, and the fact that they were both men wasn’t even in the top three reasons why. It didn’t quite help him get over it, but he knew.

Now, however, Junyoung is all grown up and about to spend months in the same, closed off space as Donghyun.

He can’t help but _wonder_.

*

The weirdest part is when Junyoung, mentally prepared for latent teenage angst and drama worthy unrequited love story, feels… not a lot, really. There’s still the spark he feels whenever Donghyun says hi in the hallways. It’s there. But somehow, now it feels more like a memory of a spark than the electricity that used to run in his blood three years ago.

He tries to imagine kissing Donghyun, like he’d imagined so many times before. It’s not that hard. He tries to imagine kissing random other contestants, too, just for comparison.

There isn’t much difference.

*

Junyoung has a sneaking suspicion Soohyun put Donghyun on dad duty while hes on the show.

They’re in different teams, yet Donghyun keeps showing up in the places Junyoung is. It’s not exactly unusual – they do know each other, they are friends, sort of, but the level of attention Junyoung is getting is a little suspicious.

(It makes for a dull burn somewhere deep in his gut. He ignores it.)

When Donghyun randomly shows up one night, well past midnight, when Junyoung is alone and trying to catch up with all the practice he’s missed - he knows.

“Dad duty,” he mutters instead of hello. Donghyun raises an eyebrow. Junyoung frowns. “Were you or were you not asked to babysit me?”

Donghyun laughs. “Don’t hold it against him, he’s just worried. Besides,” he adds, “if I were that opposed to the idea I wouldn’t be here.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Junyoung quips. It’s not like he’s actually mad. It’s just that he wishes the reason Donghyun showed up sometimes really was Junyoung himself and not a friendly favor. In the end, he smiles. “You’re just as much of a dad as he is. Must be the old age.”

“Hey,” Donghyun replies, feigning hurt. “I’ve heard this dad thing is popular right now.”

“Oh my god, no,” Junyoung laughs, then laughs some more. The thought of Donghyun in that role - “Please don’t ever say that in front of people.”

It takes a while to calm down, to Donghyun’s utter bemusement - which makes the whole thing even funnier. When Junyoung finally does stop laughing, however, he realizes something. It shouldn’t… feel this _funny_. Sixteen-year-old Junyoung would probably choke on air at the thought. Not laugh his ass off. Maybe adulthood isn’t so overrated after all.

“It’s weird to see you all serious,” Donghyun says, a very dad smile on his lips.

Junyoung smiles back. “I’m all grown up now,” he says. When Donghyun ruffles his hair, he feels like a kid that made his parents proud. He imagines kissing Donghyun now. It doesn’t exactly feel right.

“You sure are,” Donghyun sighs. He gets that look in his eyes, the one that Junyoung learned to recognize as doubt after years of observing him. In the end, what Donghyun asks is, “did you ever get over me?”

Junyoung stares at him. Did he? Moreover, “you knew?”

“You’ve always been an affectionate kid,” Donghyun laughs. “It was hard not to notice. It was cute.”

A part of Junyoung - a big part of him just wants to curl up and hide. There’s something about the hour, about the artificial lighting and the look in Donghyun’s eyes, however. He takes a deep breath. “I’m not really sure.”

Junyoung’s never been good at hiding his feelings anyway.

What happens next is quick, unexpected and a hell lot of… underwhelming. One second Donghyun’s lips are on his own and the next he’s back to his original place, a few steps away, looking at Junyoung expectantly. Junyoung swallows. It was just a press of lips, not even a kiss, not really. It still would’ve made sixteen-year-old Junyoung’s heart explode.

Junyoung of now feels a little awkward.

“Was it how you imagined it?” Donghyun asks, learning back on the door frame. He looks like someone who knows the answer already.

Junyoung frowns. It seems to be the theme tonight. “Not really, no.”

“I think it’s time to let me go and look around, Jun.” Donghyun says, smiling. Then his smile turns knowing. “That kid from Daewon’s team, he seems to like you a lot. He reminds me of you back in the day, actually.”

“Wait, wh-” but Donghyun is already walking away, back to whatever dorm room they put him in.

There are a lot of question marks chasing each other in Junyoung’s brain.

And then they’re all overruled by one heavy, overwhelming thought.

Soohyun should never, _ever_ learn about this.


End file.
